Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí ar fad. D'airigh mé uaim iad le cúpla seachtain ach is deas an rud a bheith ar ais ina measc. Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch dóibh as na focail deasa a bhí le rá acu.

I thank Members for their kind words. I will send their good wishes to Mali and to the children. We have had a good deal of negative discussion on the area of health but I want to thank all the staff in the University College Hospital Galway who treated us fantastically in the past few weeks. They were very much under pressure but the front line staff were fantastic and treated us in a wonderful way.

That was juxtaposed at a meeting I attended last night, and this refers to a question I want to raise with the Leader, when I met a group of parents of children with special needs. It brought home to me how lucky we are that we have healthy children. The frustration being experienced by those parents requires a specific debate on the area of special needs but the conundrum the Leader might find himself in is in regard to the Minister he should ask to come into the House. That is the problem for those parents. They are trying to deal with a number of organisations, including State and semi-State run organisations and voluntary groups. They are dealing with the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Health, county councils, etc. They are frustrated and are at the end of their tether. They told me terrible stories of mistreatment, treatment not being made available, promises broken and a quality of service that is not up to scratch. I call for a specific debate on the area of special needs and disability. I ask that it not be included as part of a broader debate on health issues because it is an area requiring specific discussion. I am aware there is a great deal of expertise in this House on that area so ba maith liom glaoch ar son sin. Ba mhaith liom freisin, mar an duine a d'iarr go mbeadh díospóireacht ann maidir le cúrsaí iascaireachta, fáilte mhór a chur roimh an díospóireacht inniu.

I am grateful that we will have the debate later on fisheries but I am disappointed the debate will be limited to an hour because there are many issues in the area of fishing. That is the reason I called for a specific debate on it. It remains to be seen whether an hour is long enough for the debate but if it turns out that it is not, we should allot more time to debate the wider range of issues that will be highlighted.

I welcome the debate, however, and the new format. It is welcome that the CPP is taking a number of ideas on board and trying different things. I hope it will give all Members of the House an equal opportunity to take part in the debate and ask questions because the Sinn Féin delegation found it difficult at times, even with an ever-increasing mandate, to contribute at the end of debates when our time is limited. We hope today will show that the format can be changed and things can be improved.

We were promised at one stage that we might be allowed bring forward a Private Members' Bill during this term. I ask the Leader to clarify whether that will happen.

I have raised the issue of achmhainní nádúrtha, natural resources, with the Leader on a number of occasions, and I am aware he has a full agenda of issues. However, given the review being carried out on the licensing of gas and oil operations off the west coast, the issues associated with the Lough Allen basin and the issues arising over wind and wave energy, it is really important that the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources be invited to the House so we can ascertain Government policy and determine how to ensure the natural resources of this country are used to the benefit of every citizen, agus gur féidir linn a cinntiú go mbeidh na hacmhainní nádúrtha atá againn á úsáid ar mhaithe leis na páistí atá ag teacht aníos agus na glúinte atá ag teacht inár ndiaidh.